China lands (reusable) rocket during an orbital launch

Wow!  I thought Musk was many years ahead.

from
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/making-history-china-lands-rocket-during-an-orbital-launch-for-1st-time-ever

Making history! China lands rocket during an orbital launch for 1st time 
ever (video)
News
By Mike Wall
Published yesterday
And China plans to refly the booster by the end of the year.

China just notched a huge spaceflight milestone.

The nation has recovered a rocket during an orbital launch for the first 
time ever, pulling off the feat during the Long March 10B's maiden 
liftoff on Friday (July 10). And that recovery was unique: The rocket's 
first stage nestled softly into a net-like structure carried by a ship 
at sea.

"This mission marks my country's first successful controlled recovery of 
a launch vehicle and the world's first network-based recovery of a 
launch vehicle," the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation 
(CASC) announced via social media shortly after the launch. (Translation 
by Google.) "It signifies a historic breakthrough for my country in the 
field of reusable rocket technology and will lay a solid foundation for 
accelerating the improvement of my country's space access capabilities."

The first stage of a Chinese Long March 10B rocket comes down for a 
landing at sea after successfully sending a satellite to orbit on July 
10, 2026.

The first stage of a Chinese Long March 10B rocket comes down for a 
landing at sea after successfully sending a satellite to orbit on July 
10, 2026. (Image credit: CCTV)
The Long March 10B is a two-stage rocket that stands about 207 feet (63 
meters) tall, according to the state-owned CASC, the main contractor for 
China's space program.

The vehicle's first stage burns kerosene and liquid oxygen (LOX) 
propellants, whereas the second stage uses LOX and liquid methane. In 
reusable mode, the Long March 10B can loft about 16 tons of payload to 
low Earth orbit.

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And the rocket flew with a payload on its debut liftoff — a satellite 
that successfully reached "its predetermined orbit," according to the 
CASC update. That post did not provide any details about the spacecraft 
or its orbit. It did give a brief rundown of the first-stage recovery, 
however.

"Approximately 6 minutes after the first and second stages separated, 
the first stage returned vertically and was successfully recovered at a 
sea-based recovery platform using a net system," CASC officials wrote, 
noting that launch occurred from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site 
on Friday at 12:15 a.m. EDT (0415 GMT; 12:15 p.m. Beijing time.) "The 
launch and first-stage recovery missions were a complete success."

Space

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China plans to refly the first stage by the end of the year, they added.


See more
Until now, vertical landings of orbital-class rockets had been performed 
only by SpaceX, which does them on a regular basis. Indeed, Elon Musk's 
company has landed orbital rockets more than 600 times to date.

Such extensive reuse has allowed SpaceX to fly more cheaply and 
efficiently than its competitors and dominate the launch market — 
something that China is working hard to emulate.

The Long March 10B's "reusable configuration significantly reduces 
launch costs, offering advantages of large payload capacity and high 
cost-effectiveness," CASC officials wrote in the post-launch update.

Other partially reusable Chinese rockets are in the works as well, 
including CASC's Long March 12A and the Zhuque-3, a vehicle built and 
operated by the Beijing-based company Landspace. Both of those rockets 
debuted this past December, with similar results: They reached orbit as 
planned, but their first stages didn't stick the landing.

The Chinese companies CAS Space, Galactic Energy and Deep Blue Aerospace 
are developing reusable vehicles of their own — Kinetica-2, Pallas-1 and 
Nebula 1, respectively. So, before too long, Chinese rockets could be 
returning to Earth with a frequency that rivals SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9.

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Comment by Mark Tefft.

MT

Mark Tefft
2 hrs ago
Everybody launching rockets should be doing this. Are you listening ULA? 
Congrats to the Chinese.

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Comment by Torbjörn Larsson.

TL

Torbjörn Larsson
6 hrs ago
This first landing looks a bit dodgy with a toasting top.

And landing between cables seems a risky business in general, both for 
being grabbed and for not tangling. Specifically, this seems technically 
and economically worse than leg carrying Falcon 9 class landers since it 
has to land on special platforms. It is more akin to Starship booster, 
which need to put as much thrust as possible into the cargo, implying 
the Long Marsh 10 family derivative was hampered by thrust issues.

Seems odd choices for a family of rockets that are aiming to put crew on 
the Moon, but China can be practical so maybe it will work out.

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Reply by Manthinks.

Ma

Manthinks
2 hrs ago
Reply to Torbjörn Larsson
"And landing between cables seems a risky business in general, both for 
being grabbed and for not tangling..."

All forms of recovery process of reusable hot burning booster ARE risky 
business.

The Chinese has lately published hi-res closer drone shot of the process 
showing the movable cables zeroing towards near hovering booster which 
had deployed is 4 "arresting hooks" which is resemble navy aircraft tail 
hooks used in carrier landings.

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Reply by Георги Бонджов.

ГБ

Георги Бонджов
1 hr ago
Reply to Torbjörn Larsson
It is class of falcon heavy, even little more high. The main variant 
will carry 70 tons to LEO. falcon 9 is like dwarf compared to Long March 10.

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Comment by skynr.

sk

skynr
16 hrs ago
A very excellent pinpoint landing! But what is all the black smoke 
coming out the top? A malfunction?

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Reply by Manthinks.

Ma

Manthinks
12 hrs ago
Reply to skynr
That billowing "chimney" started the moment the booster throttle in the 
final few seconds before catching the cables... Will be very interesting 
to have a close up on the outer skin of the recovered booster...If it 
appears cleaner than FalconX characteristic soot-stained return booster, 
then that "chimney" will have achieved its purpose.

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Comment by Eric .

Er

Eric
20 hrs ago
It would be nice if there was more multi country joint contribution 
rather that competition. Maybe in the future.

Why do they use 2 differ fuels .. The vehicle's first stage burns 
kerosene and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants, whereas the second stage 
uses LOX and liquid methane ??

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Reply by Manthinks.

Ma

Manthinks
11 hrs ago
Reply to Eric
kerolox propellant offers higher impulse density so better " oomph"

methalox is more efficient so less "dirty" over a given use/flight time.

Former best for initial kick for 1st booster stage while later is suited 
for longer operations.

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Reply by Torbjörn Larsson.

TL

Torbjörn Larsson
6 hrs ago
Reply to Eric
According to Wikipedia, "The CZ-10B is a commercial launch variant of 
the Long March 10A, with a methalox second stage, increasing its LEO 
capacity to at least 16 tonnes (35,000 lb)." Metalox has higher specific 
impulse to set final speed with, probably in general better for upper 
stages than kerolox.edited

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Comment by Christopher Anderson.

CA

Christopher Anderson
22 hrs ago
Wasn't there comments recently on Live or Space about using sea based 
launch and recovery pads destroying the oceans?

Realize that this is normal for advancement of all science. Just like 
the atomic bomb, when one does it, the rest understand how to do it 
better. Or did China steal the tech from SpaceX and Glen?

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Comment by Manthinks.

Ma

Manthinks
23 hrs ago
"...extensive reuse has allowed SpaceX to fly more cheaply and 
efficiently than its competitors and dominate the launch market — 
something that China is working hard to emulate."

That closing remark about "working hard" is going to make *some* 
investors of SPCX which IPO hardly a month ago, a bit unhappy.

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Reply by EnderStrikes.

En

EnderStrikes
3 hrs ago
Reply to EnderStrikes
Not only that, they have been reusing rockets for a very long time and 
dominate the global launch market by FAR.

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Reply by Manthinks.

Ma

Manthinks
2 hrs ago
Reply to EnderStrikes
I am aware Telsa used to sell a lot more EV than BYD over a decade ago 
and Telsa boss laughing at the Chinese in 2011 aged like milk....;-)

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Comment by Person1234.

Pe

Person1234
1 day ago
"Until now, vertical landings of orbital-class rockets had been 
performed only by SpaceX, "

Nope! Already forgot New Glenn did it twice?

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Reply by Lucia.

Lu

Lucia
17 hrs ago
Reply to jgcat99
nah, it is proven by global satellite verification, independent tracking 
by Western aerospace experts, and reports from global news networks.

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Reply by jgcat99.

jg

jgcat99
10 hrs ago
Reply to jgcat99
baloney

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Comment by josiah.

jo

josiah
1 day ago
It seems like it’s very thought out thoroughly

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Reply by Manthinks.

Ma

Manthinks
23 hrs ago
Reply to josiah
This very 1st full flight profile +booster recovery after successfully 
delivering an actual satellite into orbit. IMHO, "very thoroughly 
thought out " is an understatement.

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Reply by josiah.

jo

josiah
22 hrs ago
Reply to josiah
Yeah for sure and it looked awesome

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Comment by skiyourbrain2287.

sk

skiyourbrain2287
1 day ago
Nice… it seems not working with the Chinese in space is really hindering 
their ability to make technological breakthroughs…. Humm.. like I said 
before our habit of trying to prevent Nations like aching and Russia 
from accessing our tech .. just..does not work .. eventually they figure 
it out be it via theft or just figure it out .. America does things that 
don’t work out of habit without actually studying weather or not these 
policies have any of their desired effect .. again I point to our 
nations policies concerning Cuba .. then there is the War on Drugs which 
has created Cartels that rival their host nations in power .. All 
through a myopic lenses of prohibition instead of treatment..our war on 
drugs has been a sixty five year failure.. but hey that does not stop 
politicians from backing that failed policy .. We could accomplish so 
much more WITH China in space than not .. but that kinda kills the whole 
race back to the Moon rerun …the reality is we all live on this rock 
together.. like it or not it’s time to Grow up and realize our ultra 
competitive attitude between nation states is more a financial and 
military fabrication than fact .. there will NEVER be all one thing or 
the other on Earth .. it so beautifully humanly diverse just like we see 
in the diversity of nature all around us .. we are a part of that even 
though we fight against it daily .. its time to grow up before our 
international childishness destroys….everything and everyone… we ever 
knew loved or call ed beautiful… Childhood’s End .. the competitive 
nation states is literally a Dead End ..our planet is telling us so.. we 
should really listen because we all live here ….Together .

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Reply by Paul O'Rell.

PO

Paul O'Rell
7 hrs ago
Reply to this message
THE US has also legally and illegally used foreign tech from the very 
start of the country... we are not Angels when it comes to such doings 
at all... and we still do it what you don't know won't bother you... 
Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton actively encouraged the 
recruitment of foreign mechanics and the appropriation of innovations. 
The U.S. even offered economic rewards to individuals who could 
successfully bring foreign technological secrets into the country... 
this is right at the beginning of our countries start of our part of the 
industrial revolution... Under the U.S. Patent Act of 1793, the United 
States issued patents to Americans who pirated foreign technology, while 
explicitly barring foreign inventors from receiving U.S. patents. This 
legalized the commercialization of foreign innovations.

DO some research...

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Reply by JCA G.

JG

JCA G
5 hrs ago
Reply to this message
China is member of the world trade organisation. If only the US would 
appoint their judges to fight this theft in these courts, military 
budgets can be lowered for the benefit of all. Where did this go wrong? 
Who stopped talking? You can't keep breaking up international 
organisations while pointing to the others (or threaten to, like UN and 
NATO) to find out you have to build new ones. Ones the light shines, it 
might be evident to go to space as humans instead of nationalists.

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Comment by PlaneCrazy.

Pl

PlaneCrazy
1 day ago
Sorry Mike, but SpaceX was not the only one to perform vertical 
landings. You seem to have forgotten the two recent New Glen propulsive 
landings, NG2 and NG3, which both had successful booster returns. As for 
this giant basket catcher that China used, this is totally a publicity 
stunt to be able to say they recovered a booster finally. A huge 
monstrosity that probably costs more to reset for a launch than the 
booster is worth... nah, not a sustainable or worthwhile system, IMO. at 
least they seem to have stopped dropping the things on unsuspecting 
villages. Funny though... the more new companies try and emulate what 
SpaceX has accomplished, the more all the detractors from the past fade 
into the background. People used to love pilling it on SpaceX when it 
took them 6 tries to land their first Falcon9 successfully. And now 1067 
just completed it's 36th such landing.

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Spaceflight and Tech Editor
Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined 
the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, 
military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the 
space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," 
was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, 
Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. 
in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a 
bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate 
certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa 
Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on 
Twitter.

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